Don't You Understand?
by SaiKuraU
Summary: What happens when the Akatsuki catch me and Akira off guard and imprison us? What happens when a secret that has been kept for 15 years comes to light and upsets my world? Read and find out. OC's. M for violence.
1. Caught

**Babble: Hey guys this is a new story that I'm working on. Took me a while but I've got it down. **

**Lylas: This is sort of a failed romance attempt by the way.**

**Me: Yea. I'm trying though**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto Characters, but I do own the original characters. **

Sunshine filtered through the un-draped windows of a small one roomed apartment. The walls were plain white and the floors a medium colored wood. It smelled strongly of White Musk and smoke. A queen sized bed laid in the corner nearest the window, the farthest corner from the door. Two bodies lay tangled among white sheets. One was wide awake while the other slept lightly.

The woman was the one asleep and the man was sweating. She was small with long wavy golden brown hair and tan skin. He was bigger, not by much and scrawny. He had pretty dark tan skin and dark green eyes.

Slowly he turned toward her. For a moment he just stared at her debating if this is what he wanted. Nodding to himself he gently shook her awake. Blearily she turned to him and smiled sleepily revealing silver eyes. "Morning." He smiled and placed a kiss on her parted lips. They were quiet a moment and he allowed her to wake before he took her hand and placed a diamond ring upon her ring finger. She stared at it confused then looked at him. "Akira." He began and took a deep breath. "I'm not the most romantic man in the world and probably not the most desirable man. But I am one of the luckiest." He leaned up onto his elbow to look down into her face. "I've fallen deeply in love with you and I want you." He took her hand. "Akira Atishima will you marry me?"

For a moment she just stared at him then she broke out into a huge smiled and laughed happily. Throwing her arms around his neck she pulled him down into an enthusiastic kiss and a squealed, "YES!" Proudly he kissed her back. Suddenly though she pulled back and smiled slyly. "That was a failed attempt at being romantic you know?"

The apartment next door was the same exact thing. Everything down to the position of the bed. The only difference being the couple on the bed.

Groggily I turned to look at the sun that just barely came above the horizon. Groaning I rolled over to bury my face in the bare shoulder of the number one lazy assed ninja. Chuckling he pulled me closer using his most probably numb arm. We settled after a moment but I knew that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Glancing at the clock I saw that it was nearly five thirty.

Believe it or not I'm a morning person. I have to be, I run a freakin country. Sighing I gave up my quest to sleep and disentangled myself from Kakashi who was reading one of his perverted books. Half heartedly I grabbed for it and surprisingly I was able to grab a hold of it, though I guess I should have known it was a trap the moment I thought about doing it. He pulled me across his stomach grabbed me around his waist and positioned me on top of him, trapping me within his iron arms.

I couldn't help but laugh as he held my head against his neck. "Kakashi!" I exclaimed playfully swatting at his chest. He grunted a response but didn't remove his arm. "Kakashi I've gotta head back to Kirigakure." He still didn't let me go.

Feeling charitable I opted for not pinching him, but I did bite his shoulder Surprised he let me go and I made my escape to the bathroom. Usually I wouldn't spend more than five minutes in the shower but today I spent ten. Warm water cascaded down my back and the bathroom smelled like mint.

CRASH! Startled I turned off the shower and grabbed a towel. It sounded as if the noise came from next door. Once I was out in the living room, I saw that Kakashi was already out of bed.

We made a dash for the room next door. Five men stood in there and one was holding a beautiful girl with a knife to her throat. She was crying and looked terrified. On the bed was a corpse of a man.

Without out any preamble Kakashi and I attacked. I got the first two but more men poured in through the window and the one with the girl vacated the area. We were swamped and I had a decision to make.

I feigned a left against the guy I was up against. Shooting a glance at Kakashi, I saw him swamped by men, there was no possible way for him to come and help me. Perfect.

I swung around, intentionally leaving my back open. An elbow slammed into the back of my head and I was grabbed from behind and carried out the window. My last thought that I had before I blacked out wasn't that I felt bad about the terrified look on Kakashi's face but….

_Did I just allow myself to get kidnapped wearing a bath towel?_

**I'll try to update this soon.**__


	2. Waking

**Me: Hey guys it's been a while. I haven't had any time. Anyway here's the next chapter.**

_General thoughts_

_**Sasuke thoughts**_

**Lylas thoughts**

When I woke, my head felt like Lee had gotten drunk inside it and decided to beat my brain around a bit. Dimly I was aware that the ground that I lay was cold and my towel was precariously close to revealing me to the world. My right hand was tangled in something soft and the air around me was surprisingly quiet.

"What do we do with the extra one?" A gruff voice asked. I had to force myself not to react; I knew they'd stop talking if they knew I was awake. "I don't know. Maybe we should kill her. We already drained her chakra, so it wouldn't be hard." Another one said. I about scoffed they obviously were unaware that they had kidnapped the Mizukage, who by the way had been a general before then. I was trained to work without my chakra, though the chakra drain would explain the raging headache.

"How about we have fun with her before we kill her?"

The suggestion itself made my blood run cold.

There was a rustling. "As much as that appeals to me, I don't want to be on the bosses receiving end, if this woman turns out to be someone he wants." I relaxed slowly. So I was safe for now. The softness in my right hand moved and a whimper sounded next to me. Shit, I had forgotten the real reason I allowed myself to get kidnapped. I pulled a couple warnings on her hair, hoping she'd get the message.

There was a rustling, indicating that one of the men stood up. Akira thankfully just groaned and rolled into before settling again. Her warmth seeped through my cold skin and I couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that she was seemingly OK. So now on to the next problem…..

How the hell do I get us both out of here alive?

Sure I was trained to fight without my chakra, but Akira wasn't and I was too weak at the moment to pick a fight and protect her. Not when I didn't know what I was up against in the first place. Obviously they wanted Akira for a reason, but for what I wasn't quiet sure. I mean I didn't know that much about her, even though she lived next to Kakashi. She and her boyfriend generally kept a low profile. Both students, but Akira was learning to use her Chakra to do Chi healing. Pretty amazing trick actually, I'll have to remember to ask her to teach me.

Searing pain exploded inside my head. Pain that caused me to lose consciousness.

I had only experienced this kind of pain once before. Since I was little, I knew that I had the ability to get inside everyone's heads. Like hearing their thoughts and seeing their secrets but that proved to be more harmful to me that anyone else. Especially when I say everyone, I mean everyone. I couldn't stop it, it was always so many voices inside my head, saying things that made me want to vomit and I could feel the emotions to. Raging anger, unbridled jealousy, painful lives all of it and it all only got louder when someone touched me.

It wasn't until I met the previous Mizukage that I learned to seal it all away. There were a few drawbacks to it though. My skin would never warm up, I would always be cold. Kakashi always complained that I was always cold, no matter how many blankets he stacked on me. I lost my ability to carry children, well that wasn't quiet true, I could have them, but it was unlikely I would be able to carry to term without a lot of help. The biggest problem that came of it was that it shortened my life considerably. The Mizukage gave me to about when I turned 20. I turned 19 a couple weeks ago.

Anyway my half-sister Lylas (who has the same thing, only hers is controlled by her husband, Sasuke) somehow found out about it and tried to break the seal forcibly. She was unsuccessful.

And now that pain was once again abusing my already battered head. Sitting up suddenly, I had enough sense to grab my towel before emptying my stomach on the ground. The two men by the fire jumped to attention, they were both big and ugly and smelled like blood. "Shit." One of them mumbled. _'My sentiments exactly.'_ I thought as I tried in vain to regain my breath. A small hand pressed gently into my back and pulled stray strands from my ponytail behind my ears.

"Shhh." A voice said. Dimly I realized it was Akira. The pain began to abate slightly and my muscles began to relax. Whoever was trying to break the seal obviously knew that if they pushed to hard, they'd probably kill me. A rough hand forced my head back. "What should we do now? Knock 'em out again?" The one holding me asked. The other man shook his head. "Nah, we're not that far away, besides that ones to sick and the other one we can easily overpower so they won't be able to do a damn thing about it."

And I hated to admit it, but he was right.

They made us walk, which I was grateful for, because I was adamant on allowing them to touch me as little as possible. Akira was terrified and grieving, though I didn't know what for. So the next time she stumbled I grabbed her hand and intertwined our fingers giving as much comfort as I could. She seemed grateful for it and didn't let go.

I felt pretty ridiculous walking through the forest dressed only in a towel and holding the hand of a grieving woman. But even though I felt that way, even I had to admit it was kind of funny. The man behind me shoved a hand into my back, forcing me forward. Akira stumbled behind me and I held her up.

We were at a cave entrance that I was willing to bet didn't have any escape routes. "Who's there?" A voice asked from the depths. "Kail and Angus." The guy behind me replied. A young man appeared from the darkness with blindfolds, this was where I was picked up and ripped from Akira's grip.

Needless to say we were taken deeper into the cave, where a cell awaited our presence. Shackled to the wall I was left by myself as they took Akira away. I didn't like that. I didn't want her by herself so defenseless. Chains creaked as I tried in vain to reach for the door. Frustrated I searched the cell for any escape holes. Unsurprisingly I found none.

Kakashi punched a hole in the wall. He was pissed. Lylas sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought. "Kakashi calm down." Naruto said emerging from the piles of files left unattended on the Mizukage's desk. The silver haired ninja just glared before pacing. Sasuke tall, dark and handsome was leaning against the double doors of the office. He appeared calm, but with knowing him like Lylas did she knew he was worried to death about his very distantly related cousin.

Lylas and Jacq always acted like they were sisters, but they were actually just really good friends, but that was not really the point at the moment. "Have you broken the seal yet?" Naruto asked. Lylas shook her head. "No. The seal on Jacq's mind is strong it'll take a while to chip at it. And even then it's not guaranteed I'll be able to do it." "What do you mean?" Kakashi asked stopping his pacing for a moment to look at her. Sighing, she leaned her head back against the wall. "The seal was made to ensure that no one could surpass it. Hell I think that even Jacq herself wouldn't be able to break it without killing her self." _'Even though she's just as dead with it on.'_ She thought bitterly.

Sasuke glanced sharply at her and she winced. Oops she'd forgotten to mention that to him. Damn it, why did he have to be able to read her thoughts?

_**Care to explain?**_

The thought caused Lylas to sigh and shot a glare at her husband, who in return just glared back. Sighing she gave in.

**Jacq has the same thing I do.**

_**What eternal bitchiness?**_

Lylas glared at him.

**No this… the ability to get in peoples head. **

He looked startled and stood a little straighter.

_**Wait you're saying she can read my thoughts?**_

**No.**

_**But if she…**_

**She had them sealed away.**

_**But I thought the seal was pushing back the seven….**_

**No. I lied about that.**

_**Why? **_

Lylas sighed and looked him in the eye.

**The seal allowed her insanity to stay intact, but with consequences. The seal went deeper than they thought it would and shortened her life. **

Carl's went wide and missed Naruto's complaint of. "Guys it's creepy when you make faces randomly at each other and you're not talking out loud."

_**How shortened?**_

**Sasuke….**

_**How shortened? **_

**They gave her until she was 20. **

"20?" He shouted. Lylas flinched; he had forgotten to speak in private. "She just turned 19! Are you saying she'll be dead by next year?" He was standing ram-rod straight and tense. The room was quiet and stunned. One because Sasuke never shouted, especially at Lylas. And two they were trying to make sense of the random outburst.

**Yes.**

Sasuke slumped back against the door, wide-eyed and tired. "Oh God." "Wait." Kakashi said. "There's only one person that I know of that just turned 19." Lylas looked up at him, unsure of how to tell him. Fortunately she was saved by saying anything because Sasuke did.

Surprisingly out of everyone in the room, Kakashi took it the hardest. He went blank and sat down in a creaky plastic chair. Naruto sighed. "Kakashi I know it's hard to lose students, but I hate to break it to you but she won't be the last one." "She wasn't just a former student." Kakashi whispered. Something in Lylas tightened and she feared that for the first time she may have missed something important.

"Excuse me?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi glared at him. "You're cousin and I were-are- in a relationship." "What kind of relationship?" He sounded accusing and ready to beat the shit out of his former teacher. Said teacher glared and stood. "It wasn't a sexual one if that's what you're asking. We were planning on…" "On what?" Sasuke was also glaring. "Getting married! Damnit! We wanted to get married and try for kids!"

He sounded broken and something in Lylas broke. How could she have missed this? Out of everything that she could see, how could she have missed the most important thing? Jacq knew from the beginning that she was going to die, how could she drag Kakashi into something like that? The question stopped her short. _'She did it because she wanted to leave with happy memories.' _

Despite herself Lylas laughed. The occupants in the room all turned to look at her stunned. She just continued to laugh. "Jacq." She said calming down a bit. "I'll be damned before I let you die on us." She looked at everyone else. "This is Jacq we're talking about. She won't leave without a fight. She'll give us the time we need." "Need to what?" The question was asked by Naruto. She smiled. "So we can save her sorry ass and figure out a way to lift the seal and keep her sanity intact." "But that could take years." "Well then damnit she'll fight for years."

Kakashi laughed. "Your right." Lylas laughed. "I usually am."

_Wait for us Jacq we're coming for you. _

**Ok admittedly not a good chapter but I promise the next one will be better! Until then…. Bye!**


	3. Escape

Hey guys here's there the next chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters except for SaiKura.

When the door burst open my exposed skin was attacked by cold air. There were loud shouts and lots of running. The man who had thrown open the door roughly gabbed my arm, nearly displacing my towel in the process. You'd think that after three weeks in the cell they'd at least give you a blanket to keep warm. Unfortunately the men got some sort of perverse entertainment at watching me turn blue at night. I was used to it, but I didn't think it was something funny, but they did. Through the three weeks that I was kept in that damned cell they fed me little and gave me water only when I absolutely needed it and drained my chakra on a regular basis. I also hadn't seen Akira in the duration of the time and I was worried about her.

The man roughly dragged me out of the cell into the dark hallway; it smelled strongly of smoke. Throwing me at another passing man the man shouted, "Take her the boss wants her unharmed! Don't let the bastards get to her!" I gave him a look that clearly said. 'What if that's what I want?' The man glared and slapped me. Blood poured from my lip. "So much for me being unharmed." I muttered. He just glared at me before running in the opposite direction. The man now in possession of me nearly pulled my arm out of it's socket pulling me down the hallway.

There were screams and there was some blood on the stonewalls and the floor, people were bashing into me and bruising my weak body. By powers of observation I was able to conclude that something was attacking the fort and this was probably my only chance to get away. The only problem being was that I refused to leave without Akira.

As if summoned by my thoughts another man appeared holding a tired, but otherwise healthy looking Akira. She looked immediately relieved at seeing me. Swinging out my arm I made a wild grab at her hand and for a moment our fingers connected before we were both forced apart once more.

"No!" She screamed. The ceiling above us began to crumble and the man that held onto me forced my body out of the way as it finally gave out. Suddenly I found Akira and I separated by a tall blond haired man wearing a straw hat with bells on it and a black cloak with red clouds on it. Blue piercing eyes stared at me indifferent and casually. Suddenly men came up behind us. "Lyle run!" Someone shouted and once again I was being roughly dragged away.

"No!" Akira shouted again struggling against here captor. "Akira!" I shouted back. "Calm down! I'll find you later!" She stopped struggling but I could see the doubt on her face. But before I could say anymore I was pulled around a corner into the midst of chaos. Bodies pushed against mine and people screamed as we tried to push through them.

Though to my sudden delight a body slammed into my captors causing him to lose balance, but someone caught me around the waist and even though the force of my captor falling pulled my arm out of socket, he at least let go. Whoever was holding me shoved me away in light of a quick escape route.

Finally free I made a mad dash back to the hallway to find it almost completely destroyed and bodies laying everywhere. My heart nearly stopped when I spotted Akira lying on the floor, blood pouring from a gash on her head. Frantically I checked for a pulse and nearly collapsed with relief when I found one. Her heart was beating strongly.

A quick glance around told me no one had followed, not willing to push my luck I swiftly set my shoulder again before picking Akira up bridal style. Quickly I made a dash in the opposite direction of the way I had come. My towel was slipping, I could feel it, but luckily Akira's body kept it up.

I felt a little weak but pure adrenaline kept me running. The hallways seemed strangely barren of life and when I burst into what seemed like a grand hall I noticed why. Men were still fighting, but it seemed they were fighting a losing battle. There were more men with the black cloak with red clouds and they stood in the middle of the battle, efficiently killing them.

My original captor, the one who gave to Lyle, noticed me suddenly. Growling he shot at me, kunai at the ready. On instinct I reached for my chakra, but remembered just in time that I didn't have enough to spare, so my next option was go for jumping out of the way. I knew I couldn't jostle Akira too much since I didn't know the extent of the damage her head took, but at the same time I couldn't save her dead.

"What happened to getting me away undamaged?" I asked breathlessly. 'Distract him.' A voice in my head said and it sounded suspiciously like Lylas's voice. He growled. "That went to hell the moment the boss was killed." 'Great.' I dodged another attack, but misjudged the distance between the wall and my arm. "Fuck." I muttered. The man took that opportunity to go in for the kill.

He never made it.

Surprised I stared at the dead body at my feet. Looking up I saw the five men in cloaks staring at me. I held Akira closer to my chest. My mind scrambling to find the answers I needed. Those cloaks. They seemed familiar.

After a few moments it came to me. Of course, Naruto had debriefed me about missing nin that had formed a group to capture the demon vessels. As far as I knew they hadn't gotten Naruto so they hadn't fully succeeded yet. What was there name?

Oh right. The Akatsuki.

Brilliant.

They just stared at me though, so I was convinced that they probably deemed me unworthy of death by their hands. Hey I wasn't going to complain. Suddenly the pain in my head came again and I nearly dropped Akira. Crying out I slid down the wall, and before I blacked out I saw red eyes staring back into my own.

Lylas sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose in an attempt to ward off the throb in her head. Her attempts to get to SaiKura were failing, but she didn't want to push too much. Sasuke was watching her from the corner of the room. He'd been oddly silent the whole three weeks that SaiKura had been missing.

ANBU were searching frantically, but no clues were found. Naruto was flailing for help and Kakashi was actively part of the search parties, but SaiKura was just nowhere to be found. She looked out the window and noticed the leaves of the trees were turning colors. Fall was here. 'Hm' she thought. 'Nice day.'

Stretching she glanced at the clock and decided to go to bed. Her last thought before she fell asleep was, 'SaiKura when we find you I'm going to kick your ass.'


	4. Pancakes

**Hey Guys here's the next chapter! **

**Warnings: There is a little bit of foul language other than that there is only slightly obsessive fan girls and occasional bloody nose from pissed off woman. Oh and OOC characters. Also I have done my best on appearances some I have changed a little bit. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of **_**Naruto**_ **I do however own SaiKura and Akira and I am currently borrowing Lylas from my friend who has given me permission to use her. **

Throbbing. Everything was throbbing. And why the hell was it so warm?

I was drifting somewhere in between asleep and awake. Somewhere in my mind I realized I must have a fever or something because there was no way that I could be unconscious with the way I was feeling. Someone kept pushing my hair back and whispering words that I couldn't understand. I could hear screaming, but then I would slip into very weird dreams.

Most of them were settled around Lylas. Sometimes they were just random little snippets of her cooking or reading a book. Others were more elaborate. One was about her on a mission with some ANBU. Which was weird in the first place, Lylas and the ANBU weren't known for there friendliness toward each other. (That is a completely different and long story.)

They were searching for something. They talked sometimes, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. It sounded gargled and somewhat other worldly. Lylas argued with them constantly, so constantly that one time she distracted them well for them to miss the bandits that surrounded the camp. One of the bandits targeted Lylas and she didn't notice. Panic rose high in me and without thinking about it I screamed her name and as if she could hear me she whipped around and spotted the danger.

I didn't get to see if she was attacked or not.

Suddenly I was gasping for air as if I had been held under water way to long. Well I was certainly drenched enough for that. Akira held my hair out of the way as I puked into a conveniently placed bucket by the bed side. Warmth spread into me from the hand placed firmly on my back. I couldn't help but notice that I was naked.

Flopping unceremoniously back onto the bed I groaned. "Fuck." I muttered. Akira just chuckled. She looked like hell. Her golden brown hair fell messily from a ponytail and her silver eyes looked haunted and she was entirely to thin. "You OK?" I asked trying to sit up, so could examine her a bit more. A well placed shove at my injured shoulder had me back on the bed in no time. It was disconcerting how weak I was.

"I can't believe the woman who spent a week in a fever asked _**me **_if I'm OK." "I had a fever?" I knew that was the case, it was just the fact that she could tell with my skin that surprised me. As if she read my mind she nodded and said. "I couldn't tell. But one of the other men told me that it was deceptive." She looked uncomfortable. "Where are we?" I asked. She glanced uneasily to the side.

We were in a room. It was plain, with white walls, dark furniture and two doors. The one next to the head of the bed I assumed was a bathroom door. Akira was glancing at the other door. Leaning in her voice lowered considerably. "I don't know where we are, but I can tell you we're not in good hands." "The Akatsuki." I supplied. She nodded. "Yes. I woke a day after I was knocked out in the hallway. I was terrified, because I couldn't find you." Her voice cracked, but she pressed on. "I remember seeing you disappear around the corner and I couldn't…. I couldn't find you. I woke in an unfamiliar room and the blond guy, you know the one that fell through the ceiling, he told me you were dying and you needed my Chi. I couldn't contain my panic. One because we are in enemy territory and two I was afraid you would die before I could thank you."

I was confused, my brain wasn't keeping up. "Thank me? Thank me for what?" I asked. She smiled sadly. "You were the only reason I didn't fall apart when I was in the hell hole of a place." Pain flittered across her face. Worry became bright in my veins and I sat up abruptly, earning myself a reproachful look from the silver eyed woman. "What did they do to you?"

There was a pause, and then suddenly I had an armful of a crying Akira. I held onto her tightly and shushed her as she cried. "They hooked me up to machines." She choked out between sobs. "They drained me constantly of my Chi until I was screaming. It hurt. And I couldn't stop it. They said that it would end soon and I believed them every time. I had to or I thought I would go crazy." I held her all the more tightly.

It was only when Akira fell into a deep sleep; much needed sleep that I realized that I must have smelled like a dog that was hit by the spray of a skunk. Obviously Akira didn't mind, but I did. Problem was I was pinned and I really didn't want to risk moving because that might mean waking Akira and I certainly did not want to do that. So I resigned myself to getting comfortable and falling asleep.

Lylas cleaned her kunai on a bit of cloth that she got off of one of the dead Bandits. Some of the ANBU were checking the area for more, but she was sure that they wouldn't find anything. That left only one thing for her to think about. Who was the one that alerted her to the bandits' presence? It hadn't been a direct shout at her; actually it had been more of a whisper. A whisper that came from mouth that knew what they wanted to say but couldn't quiet get the words past their lips.

It had sounded familiar but she couldn't quiet place it. Kakashi waved over to her and she pushed the issue to the back of her mind. It could be dealt with later. Right now she had a color challenged friend to save.

I woke with the most insane urge to pee. Carefully I maneuvered Akira into a comfortable position on the sheets and stood up. Of course that's when the door decided to open and a man with back length black hair appeared. He was a good 6'3" with a lean but definitely muscled body. His eyes were black and he was pale. Not like a sickly pale but it was a healthy pale. He wore black pants and a long sleeved dark purple shirt.

I raised an eyebrow at him as he stopped to stare at me. His face was expressionless so I assumed that he was really indifferent about the naked woman standing in the middle of the room. "Hello." I said. "I'd love to chat, but I have to pee really badly." With that I disappeared into the bathroom. Once I was relieved I ventured back out into the room wrapped in a towel that I found on the towel rod in there. The man was rummaging in the small dresser against the adjacent wall.

He barely glanced up at me until he pulled out some black pants and a long sleeved black shirt. He threw them at me. "Take a shower." He said. His voice was deep and surprisingly warm. "And wear those, they'll be huge on you but it's better than anything else." "Is this you're room?" I asked. He nodded. I smiled weakly. "Thanks for allowing us to monopolize your room." Hey he may be a dangerous, murdering, uncaring missing nin on a mission, but he was at least a kind dangerous, murdering, uncaring missing nin.

He stared blankly at me for a moment. I felt awkward standing there with only shirt and pants as a weapon, so I fled to the bathroom.

The warm water felt nice on my skin and I felt a whole months worth of grime wash down my body and I suddenly felt lighter. I scrubbed hard at my body and the bathroom smelled strongly of oranges. I must have stood under the spray for about an hour and I was surprised when I turned off the water that it wasn't cold.

Drying myself off, I almost jumped at the sight of myself in the mirror. I looked like shit. My raven black hair fell in tatters down my back. My bone jutted out painfully under my pale skin and dark circles laid under my hazel eyes. Damn. Quickly I pulled on the pants and laughed. There was a huge difference between 6'3" and 5'7" so I had to roll the legs up quiet a bit. The shirt was huge as well and fell off my shoulders a bit but a least it didn't fall to low.

Examining myself in the mirror again I made a quick decision. Finding a pair of scissors in the draws of the sink I snipped off my hair to in between my shoulder blades and threw my hair into a ponytail. I mourned the loss of hair for only a moment before throwing it in the small trashcan.

Akira was still asleep on the bed so I decided to explore. I half expected the door to be locked so I was a bit surprised that I was able to open it. I found myself into a surprisingly normal looking white hallway. The room we were in was the last door of ten doors at the end of the hall. I appeared to be in a normal house. Well a normal big house housing missing nin. Shaking that thought I made my descent down the hall and turned into another hallway with more doors.

I would have opened each one of them if it weren't for the fact that the smell of pancakes lured me further down the hall. The hallway opened up to a spacious living room. The carpet was white like the rest of the house, with dark furniture and a huge TV. The walls were painted a dark red and on the opposite wall off the opening of the hallway, there were two white doors on either side of the wall. I chose the left door.

It gave way to a big beautiful kitchen. The walls were painted a light blue and the appliances were all back. The counters were black and white marble and the tile on the floor was just plain white. A 6 foot man stood at the stove with his back to me. His hair was short and fiery red. He was lean and his skin tan. He wore dark wash blue jeans and a dark blue long sleeved shirt. And what's this? No shoes? Ah a man after my own heart.

Once again I was overcome by the smell of pancakes. It felt kind of weird to stand in this kitchen without notifying this person, but I was afraid of being rejected food. I suddenly lurched forward when the door behind me was flung carelessly open. The red head turned around to look and seemed surprised to see me. The man who opened the door was the blond guy I saw come through the ceiling back at the hell hole (This is what I had officially dubbed it as). Up close it was easier to see what he looked like.

He was easily 6'2" with past the shoulders blond hair that was held in a ponytail, piercing blue eyes, lean body and tan skin. He was wearing grey sweatpants and a white tank top. He also wore no shoes. Wow so far I had met up with the most gorgeous men I have ever met. (Barring Kakashi of course.) We stared at each other for a few moments before the red head cleared his throat. "Would you like some pancakes?" I smiled brightly. "Yes!" He smiled weakly before turning back toward the stove.

The blond continued to stare at me. "You look awful." He said finally. He had to duck quickly as a fork was thrown at him and embedded itself in the wall behind him. By the state of the wall this didn't seem like a new occurrence. The red head glared at him. "Watch it Deidara or I might just skin you for her." Deidara just shrugged as if I was an old threat and I laughed. "It's fine." I said. "I know I don't look particularly amazing." "Doesn't mean he has to open his mouth and say something about it." The red head muttered.

"What's your name?" I know it was random, but I wanted to know the name of the man that was going to feed me. "Sasori." He replied turning back to his cooking. Nodding I committed it to memory, and then turned back to Deidara. "Ok so why exactly am I here? You could have killed me and just left me there." Deidara tensed a bit. "Quiet frankly," he said, obviously controlling what he said, "I'm exactly sure. Contrary to popular belief we don't always kill everyone we fight and technically we never fought you. So we put it to vote and it was voted that you would come with us."

"Does that mean you'll allow me to go home?" I couldn't help but hope. But I wasn't in the least bit surprised when Deidara shook his head. I was however surprised by the look of guilt he sported. I wanted to ask more questions but Sasori forced a plate of pancakes into my hand and directed me out into the dining room through another door.

The dining room was painted the same color as the living room and sported a huge dark oak table. The room had a huge window that overlooked vast fields of green. I didn't recognize anything. I was well and truly stuck where I was. The people I had met so far didn't seem like the guys that Naruto had warned me about. He warned me of cold blooded killers with no emotions or compassion. I met men who gave me cloths, medical care and food. As far as I was concerned I wasn't dead yet.

Hell I imagined big burly men that lived in underground tunnels and smelled, but yet I'm stuck with gorgeous men that know how to cook! How fucked up is that? I ate the surprisingly amazing pancakes in silence and watched the wind ripple over the grassy lands. '_Ok.'_ I thought. _'I need to come up with a way to get out of here. I don't think we want to overstay our welcome to much. I have a country to run and Shinomaru can only do so much before the Elders take over.' _I shuddered at the thought. Great now I'm going to have to come up with something fast.

**Whoo hoo! It's done. Sorry no nosebleeds in this chapter but they are guaranteed in the next one. Reviews are love! **


	5. Kali

**Me: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter. It's a not much but it's hopefully a bit entertaining. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Naruto **_**or the characters I just own this plot, Akira and SaiKura. I am borrowing Lylas from my friend with her permission.**

**Warnings: Again not too many. A failed romance and language. There may be a bit a violence and defiantly a bloody nose. Anyway Enjoy!**

Surprisingly Deidara was really chatty. After I had six or seven pancakes (I was surprised that I didn't throw it all up due to a month a month of malnutrition. Apparently, Itachi, whoever that was, spent a good amount of time during my recovery forcing my body full of nutrients and readying it for actual substance) Deidara decided to take me on a tour of the house. Chatter flowed easily out of his lips as we went along. The house held 11 original occupants. Each one had their own room, unfortunately the guest rooms were under construction since they didn't have guests all that often. Shocker.

The house itself was huge: with the bedrooms each with a bathroom attached, three public bathrooms, a mud room, a sun room, two living rooms, a game room, a pool room, a kitchen, and a basement that served as a working space. It was a surprisingly normal house for supposedly blood thirsty killers.

There was a second building that was used as a training building that held all their weapons. It was colored like the house and had a huge wrap around porch like the house only that on was wider and most likely sturdier. Deidara informed me that he owned forty-two fish and there were two black labs running around somewhere.

Despite the situation, I felt safe here. Now saying that didn't mean I wasn't looking for loopholes in their protection shields. So far they were flawless which irritated me to no end. It also became increasingly apparent that the Akatsuki had no idea that I was the Mizukage. Not much of a surprise, the Elders tried to keep my position in the dark due to political issues. There was a certain amount of corruption in the Elders and my election to the Mizukage spot was due to the thought that I was young and stupid and easily manipulated. They were sadly mistaken, for I knew how to run my country and damn it I did a great job at it. Once I turned twenty my identity would be revealed to my village.

Dizziness suddenly overcame as we made our way back from the pool room. Forcing my steps to steady I took a deep breath and blinked. Deidara went instantly silent as if his volume was turned all the way down. I felt nauseous but I refused to puke on the nice carpeting under my bare feet. It wasn't until I stumbled that I realized that Deidara had thrown my arm over his shoulder. "Don't feel so good." I slurred, my tongue felt thick and something tasted funky.

He just shook his head and swept me into his arms before depositing me in a near by bathroom where the unfortunate long haired guy from before was washing his hands. I didn't worry about it too much as I emptied my stomach into the porcelain bowl. '_Damn you SaiKura!_' a voice inside my head raged. The next words slurred together as the pressure and pain in my head grew almost unbearably. '_**Lylas**_?' I thought.

I received no answer, but the pain in my head let up. Someone obviously really wanted to break through my seal and gain entry to my brain. What the hell were they so intent on finding? Through the haze over my brain I knew the answer was probably obvious but I was too tired and sick to care. "What's your name?" Deidara asked. I felt warm Chakra flow into me from the hand on my back. It didn't do anything other than push the pain back. Obviously he was trying to distract me from what he was doing. Not exactly sure why he had to but hey, at least he cared enough to give me the option.

Even with that though I knew I had to lie. "Kali." I replied shakily. "My name is Kali."

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Sasuke passed back and forth fidgeting. Lylas sat on the couch trying to read her book. "You know SaiKura had the knack to piss me off by just being in the room?" Sasuke said suddenly. Sighing Lylas placed her book down. 'Here we go again.' She thought. Sasuke continues his rant of random facts about his distantly related cousin. "She'd walk into the room and smile knowingly as if it had been **me** who nearly died in my latest mission. When I first met her she was seemingly a quiet dutiful little girl but damn it piss her off and you realized just how powerful she really was. The Elders were blind to her and thought they could get away with control using her. Too bas she's smarter than that." "Sasuke." He stopped abruptly. "Why isn't she back?" Panicked he began to pace again. "She could have gotten away easily. Did they drain her of her chakra?" "Sasuke." "She couldn't be dead, otherwise I would know. I would feel it, but maybe distance dampens the connection." "Sasuke." "Damn and Shinomaru is struggling in keeping her disappearance a secret, the country wants to know where their _Blue Rose_ of war is." "Sasuke." "Shit! What the hell I can't…"

He didn't get to finish as Lylas grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him into a searing kiss. This was one thing that drove her insane about this man. It was his ability to worry about someone and contain it until Lylas was the only one present for his random facts rant. As she slipped her tongue into his mouth she began a long winded rant in her head. '_Damn you SaiKura! Why couldn't you just allow yourself be found? Bitch damn it! I know you could have fought them off so why the hell did you allow yourself to get caught?' _The tirade went on even as Sasuke lay down on top of her their lips still locked then suddenly there was a whisper at the back of her mind. '_**Lylas?'**_

"SaiKura?" She said suddenly bolting upright, startling Sasuke in the process. "SaiKura?" There was no reply. This sent her into another tirade that had Sasuke staring at her as if she was crazy. She was so confused. Was she so worried that she was hearing her best friend's voice? The problem was that she wasn't worried. It wasn't that she didn't care. She just knew that SaiKura could take care of herself. So what the hell was that?

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I woke to an anxious face looming over mine. Instinctively I lashed up and decked him. He stumbled back and I heard a thump. "Told you she'd do it." Someone said. I couldn't find them through the haze in my mind. "Damn she got you good. Look at all the blood!" "Don't be so damn cheerful about it." Someone grumbled. There were a couple of chuckles and the bed dipped and golden brown hair fell gently over my face. "Kali?" Akira's quiet voice asked. There was a question. Obviously she caught on to the fact that my name was a secret.

I grunted a reply. Warm air hit my face as she sighed. Another face appeared in my vision. All I could see was a blurry face and purple hair. "We need to talk." She said. Shit she was female and I felt I was about to be in some deep shit. 


	6. Confusion

**Hey guys it's me again. New chapter YAY! **

**Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own **_**Naruto **_**just the plot and the original characters. **

**Warnings: Again not to many. You got your nosebleed. There is some harassment in here and pure epic-ness of Itachi.**

'**Lylas'**

'_**Sasuke'**_

'_Kakashi'_

'Mine'

"We need to talk." The purple haired woman said. Blinking I tried to clear my vision to see her properly. It didn't work. "Sweetheart." I muttered. "I don't even know your name, you can't say things like that yet." Someone choked, but the woman above me didn't say anything, just grabbed my arm and forced me into a sitting position, where I promptly puked into her lap. She wasn't even fazed which I guess was a good thing.

"Konan." I heard Deidara say from somewhere in the room. "I don't think that it's wise to move her at the moment." 'I'd have to agree with him on this one.' I thought. Though, the fact that there were five blurry forms other than Akira and Konan in the room distracted me.

"Let me try something." Akira said softly as she placed a shaking hand on my stomach and the other on the back of my neck. For a moment nothing happened. Then I let out a surprised gasp and Chi was suddenly forced into my body. Shivering violently, I tried to press back against the intrusion, trying to get rid of the unbearable pressure. Something snapped and I screamed, causing Akira to let go of me abruptly and I collapsed forward into Konan, who caught me in surprised arms.

Breathing heavily, I pushed my self up on shaky arms and found that, despite the initial shock I felt better. My vision was cleared and I was able to see Konan properly. She was a bit taller than me, with shoulder length purple hair, brown eyes and a lip ring in her lower lip. She was surprisingly stunning, and I couldn't help but feel guilty about puking on her.

However, more pressing matters needed to be taken care of. I whipped around and looked over to Akira who looked about dead on her feet. "What did you do?" I asked. She just shook her head and collapsed. With surprising speed I was able to stop her fall somewhat, but misjudged my strength a bit and lost balance. 'Well that worked well enough.' I thought feeling somewhat proud of myself.

Konan helped me arrange Akira on the bed, before she turned to me with a serious expression. "Clean up." She said curtly. "You're going to meet the boss." Deidara's face twitched for a moment, but I noticed it and unease settled in my stomach. "Can I respectfully decline?" I asked hopefully. She wasn't amused and bluntly asked. "Would you like to live?" Without hesitation I nodded. "Then no." She turned on her heels and walked away. Sighing, I decided another shower was in order and I was wondering about the cloths I was going to wear.

While I was planning, I didn't notice the men leaving my room until the door shut rather forcibly. Shrugging, I took my shower and when I stepped out, I was surprised to find new cloths hanging on the doorknob of the bathroom door. They were pretty much identical to the ones I had before, but they were my size and I now had a bra! It was amazing.

With a sigh I dressed and made my way to the bedroom door. Konan stood there like a statue, only moving when I was ready to follow down the hall. She walked swiftly and stiffly, however, I was content with the silence.

She led me out of the house and to a patch of grass just outside the protection wards that surrounded the house. Any other person would have made the jump at freedom. I, however, am not every other person, so instead I followed the purpled haired woman down the stone steps that appeared when the grass gave way. It was obnoxiously cold and I could see my breath wafting out in front of me. There was no light, but it was a straight path so it wasn't like I was in danger of falling over.

I missed the one step and I fell forward into Konan, who glared back at me. Smiling, I righted myself and held myself with dignity. Sighing, Konan threw open the wooden door in front of her and entered an equally chilly and dark cavern. Nine men stood elevated above me, all dark, except for the rainbow outlining their bodies. Konan soon joined them and she too had a rainbow outlining.

"State you're name." A chilling voice said, echoing darkly off the walls and reverberating in my head. "Kali." I said, my voice easy and conversational. "You're full name." Obviously he wasn't amused by the fact that I wasn't cowering on the floor. "Subaku no Kalico." 'Kalico? What the hell? Where'd that come from? All well what said and done sometimes just sucks.' "A child of the sand." The voice said sounding thoughtful. "An underling of the Kazekage. Are you familiar with him?" 'Are you asking if I've worked with him or if I've slept with him? Because I've done both sweetheart.' For obvious reasons I didn't say that out loud. I mean really, how many people can admit to sleeping with the seemingly cold Kazekage? So instead I answered with. "I do missions for him. I was promoted to General just a couple of months ago."

He was silent for a moment and rubbed my arms. "Why would a General under the Kazekage fight for a leaf girl?" Shit. Should have known that they'd know who Akira was. Does that mean they know I'm lying? "We have a strong friendship with the Leaf Village, the Kazekage would never forgive me if I didn't save one of them if I was able to." Regardless I was going to keep up my bluff, because there was still that chance that they had no clue.

"Hmmm." Again he was thoughtful. "You're strong I'll give you that. Few people can keep up with bandits drained of chakra and arms full of an unconscious girl." I wasn't sure I liked where this was going, should I be thankful or enraged. "However…" Why was there always a however? "You are not strong enough to break our wards and you are sick, so therefore useless. Hidan she's all yours." 'Great.' I took a defensive stance.

Magenta eyes stared hard at me, but he did not move. "Wait Pein." A new voice rang out in the cavern. "We could use her as ransom." The room fell silent. Calmly I took a seat on the floor. They weren't going to listen to me. "Explain." Pein demanded. "We still need the nine tailed fox, the one that the Hokage still possesses. She is a General. The Kazekage will come for her, we capture him and the Hokage is soon to follow." "What will we do with her until then?" "Train her. Take her on missions. She won't leave without Akira, and Akira is no fighter. If she runs Akira dies. We already know she is strong and Akira did something to heal her."

There was another silence. 'Whoever this guy is he sure as hell knows how to keep me in check. However, I don't think he realizes that I can get a message out if they take me on missions.' Pein seemed to realize this too. "She doesn't have to run in order to get word out. Who will watch her on missions? Better yet, who will willingly do it?" "I will." The voice replied without hesitation. "Now wait a minute Itachi." Another voice exclaimed. "You're not the only one going on those missions you know." Itachi? Itachi was saving my life? 'Wow I'm surprised.' Not that I was going to complain.

"You know," I said, addressing the general direction of the new voice. "I will not be a burden on you. As you well know, I am good when I am drained of chakra, imagine me with it. I am also no blushing virgin, you want something done I do it." I faced the direction of Pein. "At the same time you have to know I am not so easily controlled. I like my space. Respect it or I won't respect yours. You could kill me, yes, I understand that, but…" I turned to Konan, whose eyes watched me with curiosity. "Then you'll never find out who I am."

Pein laughed. "You are filled with fire and know what you want, but what makes you think we care?" "Nothing. Because looking at how all of you act, I can guess your personalities right off and quiet frankly, mine is better." Suddenly my feet didn't touch the floor as a hand held tightly to my throat. Pein's other hand lingered dangerously close to my breast. 'Ewwww.' I thought, but didn't voice. "You're on dangerous waters." Pein hissed. "Good thing I'm a good swimmer." I replied calmly.

"Mm," He began. "Really?" "Pein." Konan's voice startled me and the man let go of me. "Fine." He said eventually. "She's your responsibility Itachi. Train her well."

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Gaara sat heavily in the chair and stared at the barely pregnant 21 year old in front of him. Sakura fidgeted slightly in her seat. "So it's true?" He said in his usual monotone. She nodded. Sighing, he clasped his hands and leaned forward over the desk. "What do you want me to do about it?" She fidgeted some more. "You slept with her once didn't you?" She blurted. Slightly taken aback he stared at her. "Why should that matter?" He finally asked.

She stood and paced. "Since you guys stayed good friends afterward we didn't think much of it, but Lylas told us SaiKura would use you as her village leader if she ever had to go under cover. And we believe she has. She's not dead, we know that for sure, but she hasn't contacted us or come back. She wouldn't abandon her country and the elders are getting pretty excited and trying to turn the chair over to Lecar. We can't let that happen."

"Lecar?" Gaara asked confused. "Why Lecar? He's dumber than a box of rocks, he wouldn't be able to control a lawn mower much less a country." Sakura nodded. "Exactly and that's what we're trying to avoid. A dumb man is easily manipulated and the elders can take control through him. They tried doing that with SaiKura, because they thought she was damaged by the life she had before the Village in the Mist. Problem is they didn't know that her memories before then had been erased." "Wait erased? What are you talking about? She talks about her childhood fondly." Gaara was so confused.

"That's what we thought as well." Sakura replied. "However, Shinomaru revealed to us that he had helped the original Mizukage plant memories into her mind. We asked him to tell us what happened to her, but he refused to, it was locked away for a reason and one day she may get them back, but she's only got a year. With the memories came a seal, one that shortened her life until she was twenty. Lylas believes that she'll live longer than that, but Shinomaru's not so sure."

"Kind of a coincidence that she's disappeared now, isn't it?" He was staring out the window and looking down on the peaceful village that he ran. "Only a year to live and the elders are already planning on passing the chair. And she can't so a thing because she's missing." "Don't go blaming the elders." The pink haired lady chastised. "The bandits where going after Akira's research, SaiKura showed up at the wrong time." "Are you sure?" "What?" "Are you sure?" He repeated. "Why would they go for the medic Nin and not the head of research who lives a floor down? Why go for a woman who lives next to powerful ninjas when the other is unguarded?" "Unless that was part of the plan." Sakura finished.

The room was silent for a moment. "I'll inform Naruto." She said suddenly. "I still think that SaiKura will send a message to you. Keep a look out." He just nodded and waved her away.

She was barely out the door, when Temari burst in looking thoroughly confused. In her hands she held long raven black hair wrapped in cloth that had red clouds on it. She through the package on the desk and a figurine tumbled his way. Picking it up, he noticed that it was of a calico cat with hazel eyes. "What the hell is this?" He asked. "What are the Akatsuki playing at?" Temari shrugged. "I don't know." She said. "All in know is the man that delivered it, was terrified. Don't go looking for him because he's dead. Poor bastard was poisoned."

Gaara shrugged. "We'll look into it later, for now we have a war princess to save." Temari nodded and they left the room, leaving a Calico cat to stand in the shadow of a penholder.

**Whoo-hoo it's done. Hope you like it. Reviews are love. **


	7. Training

**Me: Hey guys! I guess that this isn't going to get up as soon as I want it to, but I'm going to start it.**

**Warnings: A little blood, not a lot and a bit of cussing (surprise). **

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or the characters. I own the plot and the original characters. **

'**Lylas thoughts'**

'My thoughts'

It was early morning and I found myself in the training room with Itachi. He had given me two days rest, before he finally dragged me out of bed to go train. Akira was awake and looking healthier. She hated being alone in her room, even though she shared the room with Konan, so I often found her climbing in with me at night. I didn't mind; Lylas and I always use to do that before she got married.

Konan seemed to warm up to me and she even invited me to watch a movie with her after my first day of training. She was surprisingly warm hearted and interesting. It made me happy that she was at least trying to make my stay a little more comfortable.

Sasori and Deidara were awesome. I guess it's because they feed me, but that wasn't the point. They fought constantly, but they held a brotherly affection toward each other. Of course I never told them that. I had a feeling that Sasori would deny it venomously.

I met the rest of the household face to face with the exception of Pein, who rather stay an unsocial able hermit. The first was Kisame, who apparently was Itachi's partner. He kind of reminded me of a shark. A tall shark. Kisame stood at 7 foot and 7 inches, with skin a pale blue. The dude even had gills! He had the body of a swimmer and dark blue spiky hair that matched his eyes. He was also surprisingly talkative and seemed to admire me in a secret, quiet kind of way.

The next one I met was definitely the freakiest guy I've ever met. His name was Zetsu and he resembled a carnivorous plant. His head was incased in a green plant claw. One side of his head was black and the other white and they fought each other! It was freaky! But he was also interesting in his own way. He knew everything about every battle fought and never hesitated to share with me on it.

The most indifferent to me was the eerie Kakuzu, who resembled a robot version of Kakashi. Big, tall and wore a mask. That's where the similarities ended though. He had bright green eyes with no pupils and instead of white around the eyes, it was scarlet. Every time I saw him, he just bowed his head politely before disappearing.

Hidan was surprisingly the most normal looking man out of all of them. He stood two inches taller than Deidara with a plain face and muscled body. His eyes were magenta and he was slightly aloof. However, he didn't mind talking to me as long as it was me that started the conversation.

The one that surprised me most was Tobi, who just seemed to damn cheery for a bloodthirsty killer. I mean, I guess they all seemed different from the stereotype killer, but that wasn't the point. Tobi was just the cheeriest. He was the same height as Hidan, but liked to hug people and make light of every situation. He made things almost bearable.

Itachi for the most part ignored me. At least until this morning.

At this moment he was just staring at me, like he could guess my skills by just looking at me. Hell, maybe he could. Eventually, I got bored and looked around. The training house was huge on the inside, with matted walls and floors, grate walks around the room and on the ceiling, and minimum weapons lying around. Those were in the weapons room, which was in the weapons house, which was separate from this building.

"Let's start with seeing how good you are at hand to hand combat." The deep voice of Itachi, took me out of my observations. Shrugging, I took a defensive stance. Itachi just stood there. "No." He said. "I want to see you're offensive first." Again I shrugged and relaxed my muscles. He was also relaxed, but he watched me intently. Taking a deep breath, I studied him.

He was unmoving and focused.

I rushed him; my left side tilted forward so I could knock him over and absorb the shock. Effortlessly, he moved to the side. No surprise. It was a weak attack. Swinging, I went for his head. Again he dodged, but I kept coming at him, making my steps predictable and my eyes locked onto his. Knowing he had the Sharingan, I wouldn't normally have done this, but this was purely hand to hand combat, so there was no chakra allowed.

Without warning, I dropped to a crouch and kicked out my leg toward his legs. His reaction was quick, but not quick enough to be saved from stumbling slightly. Taking advantage of that surprise, I wrapped an arm around his midsection and vaulted all my weight on him, before he could get both feet back under him. We hit the floor with a loud thump, but immediately, Itachi rolled and pinned me under him. His hands had bruising grip on my wrists, and straddled my thighs. Without hesitation, I moved my leg over to the outside of his, and forced my opposite arm straight across the floor above my head. This threw him off balance, and with a cry, I rolled us over and tried to force my body to stand. However, he still had a hold of one of my wrists and he yanked it to the opposite side of him, throwing me completely off balance and onto my back. I was still on top of him, but now my back was to his chest. Quickly, before I could struggle, he rolled, pressing me face down into the matted floor. His sudden weight on my back had me struggling for breath. He had my arms pulled back, and my forearms were almost parallel to my spine. His hands and chest kept them pinned there.

I struggled in vain for a moment, but he forced my arms a little further up, gaining a cry from me as my left shoulder popped out of place. I whipped my head back, and let out a satisfied smile as it connected hard with his face. It didn't surprise him enough to let go, but enough to get a growl out of him. My left arm was numb and as a medic Nin, I knew that wasn't really a good thing. I was struggling to breathe and I was pretty pissed when I noticed that the bastard above me wasn't even out of breath.

"Do you yield?" He asked. 'This bastard.' I thought. 'He's got me pinned! Why would he ask me if I fucking yield?' **'Who the hell are you talking about?' **The answering voice in my head startled me and it made me jerk in surprise. Itachi took this as a negative and forced my other shoulder out of socket, but I was to distracted by the other thought to notice. The voice had sounded suspiciously like that of Lylas. So I hazard a thought back. 'Lylas?' There was no reply. For some reason that didn't surprise me. 'What the hell?'

"Do you yield?" Itachi asked again, oblivious to my confusion. His voice brought my mind back to the numbness in my arms and shoulders. "Well usually I wouldn't yield, but seeing as that you may very well tear my arms off if I don't, then I guess I do." I replied a bit brokenly due to loss of breath. His weight was suddenly gone and I gasped for breath. My arms fell limply to my sides, but before I could do anything, he was over me and popping my shoulders back into place. Grunting, I sat up and stretched, wincing slightly at the pain. I couldn't help but to feel satisfied when I saw a black eye beginning to form on his face.

"We'll have to start with getting you back into shape." He said standing and going over to a door on the far side of the room. I glared at his back, even though I knew he was right. I was out of shape. Not that I could have done much about that. It wasn't like I asked to be mal nourished for three weeks. Sighing, I stood and followed him into the room that was connected to the training house. It was just a plain office room, and Itachi was rooting threw the stacked paper on the desk, which was the only piece of furniture in the room.

"We'll start with running and core exercises." He said without even glancing up at me. "Every morning I'll set up a five mile course that I want you to run as a warm up. When you get back, we'll work on core and strength exercises that I have set up. We might do a bit of swimming as well. For now," He turned to me finally and handed me a paper, which was suppose to be a map. "There's your first run. Go." Mentally I raised an eyebrow at him and thought, 'Does he really think I'm going to use the map?'. The look he gave told me that, yes; he did expect me to use it.

Sighing, I made a venture to the house and knocked on Konan's door. She answered quickly, and smiled slightly at me. "Hey." I said. "Do you happen to own a pair of shorts that I could borrow?"

1212121212

Turns out that she did have a pair.

With the map stuck in the waistband of the shorts, I set off in a jog in the general direction it told me to go. Itachi, it seemed, was taking no chances with me, so there where protection wards keeping me in along the path that I was taking. Whether it was to simply keep me in, or to keep everyone else out, I wasn't so sure.

Surprisingly, the jog wasn't all that horrible. It was only noon, so the sun was still up and birds still sang. I'd say it was downright peaceful. Swinging my shoulders while running hurt like hell, though. All well, teaches me not to get distracted.

My peace ended when I returned to the house, and I saw Itachi standing in the deck with a clipboard in his hand.

He was a brutal trainer. He pushed me to my limits, and then beyond. He had me start out with core activities, like bicycles, mountain climbers and every other thing he could come up with. When that was done to his satisfaction, he had me do a whole bunch of arm strengthening activities, then to leg activities. It was dark when we were finally finished.

Exhausted and hungry, I made my way to the kitchen, where the smell of steaks lingered in the air. Deidara smiled at me, before placing the plate of glorious food in front of me. Everyone was there, with the exception of Itachi who came in later, freshly showered. Akira, who sat next to me, fidgeted, so I reached over and grabbed her hand under the table.

"Itachi." Kisame said sounding startled. "Where did you get the black eye?" The raven-haired man glared at me. Gleefully, I smiled back and saluted him with two fingers. The table fell silent. "You landed a hit on him?" The white side of Zetsu asked. "Well, obviously." The black side answered. Ok, that really weirded me out. It was so weird to see someone actually talk to himself or herself and get an answer.

"Well." I said before an argument broke out between Zetsu and…. Zetsu. Wow that was messed up. "He gets a couple pointers as well. The bastard pulled both my shoulder blades out of place." I accompanied this statement with a glare, which was ignored.

Akira squeezed my hand, and turned to talk to Konan, who was innocently eating her stake. Staring down into my plate, I relished toe feeling of being sweaty and tired. It was a feeling I missed since becoming the Mizukage. It had been a while since I had last been on a proper mission. When I looked up, I could have sworn that Kakuzu winked at me.

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"That doesn't make sense." Lylas said, hitting her head repeatedly on the wall. "I know that's SaiKura's hair. I can feel her chakra lingering on it, but the calico cat means nothing to me." Kakashi placed a hand between her head and the wall, before addressing Gaara. "She hasn't contacted you has she?" The red head just shook his head.

Lylas sighed. "Have you talked to Shinomaru yet?" She asked. "No as a matter of fact no one has." A deep voice said. A six foot red headed man with green eyes, walked into the room. "Shinomaru!" Naruto exclaimed from his spot behind a stack of papers. The red head ignored him.

"What is this I hear of the Mizukage's hair?" He asked. Lylas sighed. That was Shinomaru all right, curt and straight to the point. "It was wrapped in the Akatsuki's cloak." She said. "But with it was a calico cat figurine." "Calico?" He asked, his eyebrows almost disappearing into his hairline. All of a sudden he looked stricken. "Could it be that they know?" He muttered.

Lylas was confused. What the hell was he talking about? She got so distracted, that when someone said, 'This bastard.' She snapped to attention. "Whose a bastard?" She asked. All the men stared at her like she was crazy. It wasn't until she heard, 'He's got me pinned! Why would he ask me if I fucking yield?' The voice was disfigured and unrecognizable, but Lylas replied, so that she could prove to herself that she wasn't crazy. **'Who the hell are you talking about?' **There was no reply.

**'Maybe I am crazy.' **She thought. **'Damn.' **"I need to talk to Akira's boss." She said suddenly. She didn't know why, but all she knew was that Akira's boss had answers. To what questions, she wasn't sure, and why this had to do with SaiKura, she wasn't sure about either.

When nobody in the room moved to do anything. She glared. "Now."

**Sorry about the fight scene. I have no combat knowledge at all. **


	8. Concrete Angel

**Hey just another chapter!**

**Warnings: Mentions of rape and killings and some actual killing and cussing. I think that's about it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or the characters (except for the original ones) I just own this plot. Nor do I own "Concrete Angel" By Martina McBride. **

_Red. The walls were painted red. It flowed down them like some morbid waterfall. She reached out to catch some on her fingertips. The liquid was already cool, since the blood was of people who had died three hours earlier. _

_ Remorse. Shouldn't she feel it? Why doesn't she?_

_ Silence. Her Uncles dead eyes stared up at her, filled with the same fear he felt when he had died. He had begged before he died. The silence was a blessing now, because his crying had gotten annoying._

_ Running. Someone was running. Was it her? Was it someone else? Or was she just imagining it? _

_ Remember. Remember what? _

I jerked awake, accidently dislodging Akira and Konan in the process. The movie they had been watching was rolling through the credits. "Kali?" Akira asked sleepily. "Nothing." I said. "Just go back to sleep." She was too tired to notice that I was straining and dutifully went back to sleep.

Konan, however, was awake. "Want to talk about it?" She asked. I leaned back. "I'm not exactly sure what needs to be talked about." Was all I said in reply.

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Itachi threw a weapons bag to me. "We're going on a mission." Was all he said by way of explanation. Surprised, I rooted through it. A month had passed since the first training session. The first week had been hell, and I had been sore and tired. After that I got stronger, and advanced quickly against Itachi, who wouldn't admit it, but he was surprised when I was able to last thirty minutes in a fight against him. We hadn't worked too much with my chakra, but hey I wasn't complaining.

Kisame waited for us just outside the protection wards. "Hey kiddo." He said, greeting me with a hug. Kisame and I had bonded over complaining about Itachi. He even went out and bought me cloths that actually fit me! "Hey." I replied into his stomach. I hated feeling short compared to him.

Itachi just rolled his eyes and set off, with us not to far behind him. "So." I said, refusing to be just the sheep. "What are we off to do?" "Were going to the Village of Birds." Kisame replied without mush emotion. "To do what?" He and Itachi traded a look. Irritated, I stopped. They did to.

"Listen," I said, crossing my arms defiantly. "I know you don't trust me, and I understand that. I mean really, why trust a woman that you know nothing about? But honestly, at this moment I am your teammate and if there is one thing that you need to know about me, I don't betray teammates. So suck it up and telling me the hell we are doing. You can't have me going in knowing nothing, and you never know I might be able to help come up with a plan." My gaze was hard and I swear that Kisame flinched a bit. Why, I'm not sure, it wasn't like I was spitting fire at them. Well not yet anyway.

"You're a bitch." Itachi said, startling both me _and_ Kisame. Sure I expected a response, just not from the raven-haired man. Glaring, I turned my body to face him. "I wouldn't have to be if you just told me what we were doing in a village as small as the Village of Birds." "Well actually it isn't all that small." Kisame said. Nodding, I gave him that one, because it was actually true. "It's small for a coastal village." I said.

Itachi regarded me for a moment. "How much do you know about the village?" He asked. Shrugging, I reeled off what I could remember from the reports that Shinomaru read to me. "It's port recently lost millions of dollars from getting busted for delivering illegal goods. The village leader struggled with the debt that the loss put them in, but as he was an old man, he keeled over and died from the stress, putting his son in the seat of power. From what I hear, he is a fairly tyrannical leader."

"He's also a murdering rapist and a slaver." Kisame threw in casually. Automatically, my body tensed up and I gritted my teeth. I had dealt with a slaver the first year as the Mizukage. What I had seen ripped my heart out as I stared at the damage that the people had sustained. I had personally killed the bastard the moment I was allowed. "And our target." Sighing, I looked at them. "Do we have a plan?" I got blank looks and again I sighed.

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"This was a horrible idea." I said as we walked down a busy street. My arm was hooked around Itachi's, who just ignored me. Before we had arrived at the port village, we had stopped to change into our disguises. Itachi sported a blond wig that reached his shoulders and blue contacts. He even changed into a bright green shirt to go with his black cargo pants. Kisame was harder to disguise, so he just used a jutsu to cover his appearance. Still standing at 7 foot, he now sported shoulder length black hair and bright green eyes. His skin was no longer blue, but golden as if he spent a lot of time in the sun, and the jeans and red shirt accented it.

I personally, felt ridiculous. I also wore a blond wig, but mine fell to just past my waist. My eyes were a really noticeable color now, since they were a violent purple. Regrettably, I had to be a lady, so I wore a short black dress that left very little to the imagination.

Kisame chuckled. "Don't worry sweetheart, you're gorgeous." I glared back at him. "If this is gorgeous, I want to go back to being ugly." I hissed. "If you went back to your real appearance, then you'd become unearthly instead of ugly." Itachi said with little emotion. The comment surprised me, and I gaped at him. Of course, being the man that he was, he ignored me and continued to talk as if he hadn't said anything. "We need to split up to find him. According to the people that I've spoken with, he likes to walk the streets chasing skirts." He gave me a look. "Right." I said. "That's what the dress is for." Kisame patted me in the back and slipped me a small knife. I didn't need it, I had enough weapons on me to take down a country, but the gesture was appreciated.

I sat at a two-person table outside a pretty little café on the seaside. Pretending to immerse myself in my book, I kept my eyes peeled to my surroundings. Even though we knew that the leader of this village was a handsome man, we couldn't get a name or a decent description, which was frustrating. A man wolf whistled at me, and I raised innocent eyes to look at him. As if I was just a pretty little virgin. Heheh they don't know a damn thing.

I saw Kisame once; he walked past me and shot me a look that said he hadn't found anything yet. I sat there for a good two hours, before someone sat down across from me. Glancing up, I found myself staring at a golden man. He was a gorgeous man, with dark blond hair, tan skin and golden brown eyes. He was toned as if he excersised on a daily basis and he smiled charmingly. If I weren't me, I would have fallen for him immediately.

Forcing myself to blush, I politely put my book down. "Hello." I said tentatively. His smile nearly blinded me. "Hello, I'm Al." He replied holding out his hand. Hesitantly I took it, and replied quietly, "I'm Irene." "Well Irene," He said leaning back and regarding me. "How old are you?" "22." "Really, you seem younger." I blushed accordingly. "That's what Aidan always tells me." I said, not meeting his eyes fully.

Al raised an eyebrow. "Aidan?" I blushed again. "A friend of mine." Was all I said in reply. He laughed. "Seems you like him more than a friend." I looked away from him. "He's engaged." I whispered. Immediately, his laughter disappeared. "I apologize." He said bowing his head at me. I felt kind of guilty for lying to him, he seemed like a decent man. "You didn't know." I amended, looking at him fully. "That's why I came here. I wasn't going to go anywhere at home, so I came here to see if I could maybe find my dreams here. My father was against it, but my mother helped me pack, she never achieved her dreams, and when my cousin invited me here, she told me to jump on the opportunity. So here I am." I finished, by swinging my arms out, to indicate the surrounding village.

Al took me in for a moment. "Here you are." He whispered. Then he seemed to shake himself out of whatever thoughts he was having and smiled brightly at me. "So what are your dreams?" I tried to make myself as small as possible, blushing furiously. Gesse, I was getting sick of myself, I can't deal with being shy. Regardless, I replied to him meekly with, "I want to be a singer." "A singer?" He asked, though not doubtfully, actually it's like he was thoughtful about it. Slowly, I nodded. "Sing a little something for me." The deer in the headlights look that I gave him could not be faked. 'Shit, should have thought that through a little bit more.'

He gave me an encouraging look. "Here?" I squeaked. Nodding, he told me, "You can't meet your dreams if you don't perform them outright." Looking around, there weren't really that many people so I just took a breath and began to sing.

_She walks to school with the lunch she packed_

_Nobody knows what she's holding back_

_Wearing the same dress she wore yesterday_

_She hides the bruises with the linen and lace, oh_

_The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask_

_It's hard to see the pain behind the mask_

_Bearing the burden of a secret storm_

_Sometimes she wishes she was never born_

I had pitched my voice a little bit higher to fit the childlike vision I had created. Somehow, I lost myself in the song.

_Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone_

_In a world that she can't rise above_

_But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place_

_Where she's loved concrete angel_

_Somebody cries in the middle of the night_

_The neighbors hear but they turn out the light_

_A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate_

_When morning comes it will be too late_

_Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone_

_In a world that she can't rise above_

_But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place_

_Where she's loved concrete angel_

People gathered around me, but I didn't notice them. I didn't even know that I had stood up. I was feeling the music.

_A statue stands in a shaded place_

_An angel girl with an upturned face_

_A name is written on a polished rock_

_A broken heart that the world forgot_

_Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone_

_In a world that she can't rise above_

_But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place_

_Where she's loved concrete angel_

There was quiet at first, and a pain I didn't know filled my chest, and I almost choked. Suddenly, there was a hand on my back, and I turned to see Al beaming at me. "That was beautiful!" He exclaimed and the crowd around me burst into applause.

I squeaked with surprise as hand grabbed my elbow and Kisame stood there out of breath and worried. "There you are kiddo!" He said pulling me into a hug. "We looked everywhere for you!" Al moved back respectfully as Itachi came and forced me out of his grip. "I'm sorry Setsuki!" I exclaimed and he pulled me into a hug. It was weird to hug him, and it was familiar, but I've never hugged the man before so how the hell could it?

Confused, I just hugged him back. "You shouldn't go out by yourself." He said holding me arms length away from. Looking properly ashamed, and nodded. "He's right." Al said, stepping forward. "You never know if you'll be taken off the streets by strangers." With that he walked away, and my brows furrowed. Was he trying to warn me?

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Later that night, we recapped and we were going to figure out who this bastard was. Apparently a couple of girls had been found the night before, raped and dead. This pissed me off considerably and Kisame wasn't too happy about it. Itachi seemed indifferent and told me to catch this guy's attention.

I hope that wasn't easier said than done.

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Something woke me from my peaceful sleep. Something had fallen over. Opening my eyes, I nearly screamed when a pair of eyes stared down at me. Immediately, I lashed out, and caught his face. He flew backwards and I shot up in bed. Again he was coming at me. A sharp sting caught my arm and I saw at the door was another man. Suddenly, one of them was on me, groping at my cloths. A familiar terror filled me.

This time I did scream.

My mouth was covered, and my reactions were slowly. They poisoned me. Shit. I continued to claw, and bite, and struggle. Making as much noise as I could, I managed to distract the man enough, so that I could throw him off of me. My tank ripped in the process. The other man rushed me, but I was prepared for him and killed him swiftly with the Kunai that was under my pillow.

Within moments, my room was streaming with men. For a moment I wondered where the hell Itachi and Kisame were. No sooner had I thought that, they burst through the door. Unfortunately, something else was stuck into my shoulder and everything went black.

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Lylas shot up screaming and sweating. Sasuke shot up with her and grabbed on to her, holding as the terror gripped her. Something was wrong. This wasn't here terror. It couldn't have been, she was safe and Sasuke would never harm her, so what the hell?

She began to calm down somewhat and began to think more clearly.

SaiKura.

It had to be her. Who else? She'd heard her voice in her head, so why not be able to feel her emotions. A new terror filled her. If that was the case then something had happened to her best friend. Whipping around, she grabbed onto Sasuke's shoulders. He covered her hands. "What?" She stared at him. "I need to talk to that research woman again." Was all she gave as explanation, as she vaulted out of bed. He shook his head.

"Sweetheart, she already told us she can't give us the information on her research." Lylas's face became a hard mask of determination. "I have feeling SaiKura is in danger." She said. "I can feel it. I've never been able to do that. I can hear her thoughts and right now she's terrified. I need to know whats going on, and she's going to tell me what the hell Akira can do.

With that, she stormed out of the room, knowing the way by heart.

**Whoo-hoo it's all done. See you next chapter. Reviews are love!**


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